I RECENTLY underwent a triple heart bypass surgery. For six months I had minor pains in my chest and visited the emergency department at the hospital.
The hospital was very quick to take me in and checked my heart through ECG. This happened on more than three occasions and I was always given a clean bill of health. Finally, I was checked on the treadmill, when they realised there was something wrong.
I was sent for an angiogram, when they saw that one of my arteries had a 90 per cent blockage, so they did a triple bypass.
The purpose of writing all this is to make the public and possibly our medical practitioners aware that the ECG is not a final result - one has to have an angiogram.
This letter is in no way to criticise the people directly connected with the treatment, who are already giving excellent service, but I feel the authorities should change the process in order to quickly detect any major blockages in the arteries.
I am one of the lucky ones - my operation was conducted in good time and I am on my way to full recovery.
BALDEV SINGH GUPTA Hounslow
